My Goal In Life
by abitofwhit
Summary: Haruno Sakura is not your average girl, and everybody knows it. The competition heats up as Sasuke, Neji, and even Itachi go all out in order to take what they feel is rightfully theirs. Who will win?
1. Death

Death. It's a simple word really. Yet it contains so much meaning. It creates so much emotion, and in truth it can destroy a person.

This mysterious and desolate word instills fear in the hearts of many. This is because it happens to everyone. Nobody can escape from death. And even if they do, it is only temporary.

This did not come across the mind of a certain man. His name is Orochimaru. I believe this word has created more fear in him than in any of us. Which is why he continues to persevere in his dream of becoming immortal. And in doing so, he has captured a person that was once very dear to me. But that is no longer.

I no longer love the man that brutally left me unconscious on a cold, hard bench to seek out power in order to gain vengeance. But no matter what, I will get him back.

To others it is very confusing as to why I still want to return him to the village he not long ago betrayed if I do not contain feelings for him.

But they are wrong. Because I do still have feelings for him. Feelings of hatred, rage, and betrayal.

And I will bring him back. No matter what it takes.

The reason for this is because I want him to see.

I want him to see all the pain I went through after he left. I want him to see that I am no longer the weak little girl he assumed me to be. I want him to see Haruno Sakura, an elite ANBU of the village of Konoha and one of the best medics in the world.

He had changed my life, and affected me in a way that might have been for the better.

If it wasn't for him, my intent on becoming stronger wouldn't have been as extreme as it was back then, and I wouldn't have been so dedicated. I learned how to cope with the tragedies in my life and was able to overcome them.

But I think one of the biggest things that changed my life was death in itself. The purpose of becoming stronger was to prevent HIS death as well as my friends, and to overcome death when it happened.

And even though I may still cry over loved ones who have passed away, I learned that I can't cry for the rest of my life, because I can't do anything about it and that's not what they would have wanted. They would not have wanted me to mope and waste my life yearning for what I couldn't have.

But I still want him to know.

He will know of the tragic life I experienced, from the departure of my former crush to the tragic death of my parents. He will know of the friends that helped me along the way, from the loudmouthed but loving fox, to the shy and stoic Byaakuugan user and his cousin, to the pig who was always there for me and always will be. They all will.

And I will always be there for them. I promised. We all promised. And as ninjas, we will always be there to protect each other and support each other, no matter how tough the going gets.

But there is another promise I have made in my life that I am aware will be more difficult to fulfill. To bring back the person that was once the love of my life.

His name?

Uchiha Sasuke.

-XOXOXOX-

Please read and review. If you see any grammatical or spelling errors, or you didn't like the story, please contact me and I will be happy to change anything!

Whit :D


	2. A REALLY Bad Day

It all began with an alarm clock. I HATE alarm clocks. They are the noisiest and most obnoxious things that have ever existed.

Scratch that.

They are number two in the category of the noisiest and obnoxious things that ever existed.

The first would be one of my best friends and long time teammate, Uzumaki Naruto. And although I love him to death, he can be pretty loud sometimes. Okay, I'm being nice, he is the loudest person on the face of the Earth.

But anyways, my alarm clock woke me up at exactly 6:01 a.m., and I didn't hesitate to pick it up and fling it across the room.

I guess it was morning grumps.

But I tend to forget that the alarm clock is unbreakable, thanks to my teacher Tsunade. She put one of those jutsus that put it back together. And I was fairly disappointed, because there is something satisfying in seeing an alarm clock shatter into a bajillion pieces.

I grumbled as I slowly dragged myself out of bed and into the shower. Bad idea. The shower was freezing cold. And I could tell it was going to be a bad day. But foreseeing a bad day doesn't get you excused from the hospital. So I wrapped a towel around my body and continued to prepare myself for the day.

While I skip all the boring stuff, let me describe to you a little about me. I am currently 17 years old, living in a one- bedroom apartment by myself. I have "vibrant" jade eyes and waist length straight PINK hair. My outfit consists of faded jean shorts with a gray tank top and a kunai holster at my hip. I have black ninja sandals and my Konoha forehead protector is tied loosely around my neck. In the words of my fan boys, I look "HOT".

Yeah, that isn't very reassuring.

After getting dressed, I wandered downstairs to eat breakfast. I didn't have much time left, so I decided to make myself a cup of coffee and head out.

When I arrived at the hospital, I spotted Hinata mixing herbs in the chemistry room, which just happens to be right next to my medical examination room. I swear one of these days something's gonna react in that room and my whole office is gonna blow to smithereens.

I made a quick stop in the office to check up on my friend.

She was carefully adding a substance that looked to be benzyl peroxide to a concoction of maple leaves and lactic acid.

Hinata worked there for three hours every weekday and then spent two hours after that distributing them around the hospital and restocking supplies in the medical examination rooms. We had gotten pretty close, what with me getting first pick of medications and her getting a complimentary cup of coffee every morning, courtesy of Haruno Sakura.

Hinata had no experience in healing, but was the best medicine maker in the village of Konoha. Her Byaakuugan assisted her in making sure the medicine wasn't poisoned or had any defects to it. She even made up some mixtures herself, which were extremely beneficial to the medics in the hospital.

After having a three-minute chat about random things, I sauntered over to my office to begin my day.

And boy, what a day it was.

I had to heal a TON of people that day, and had to practically run to the emergency room on several occasions.

Well, people aren't ANBU for nothing.

My day became considerably worse when, around 7 o' clock, a familiar figure was escorted into the ER, limping and coughing blood all over the glistening white tiles of the hospital hallways.

Maybe his name will ring a bell.

It was Hyuuga Neji.

I quickly made my way over to the bed where he now laid, and healed him feverishly as he tried his best to explain what had happened to make him like that.

And this is what I got out of it:

Apparently, Neji had been given a mission to explore the lands of Suna, for there was rumor that the Akatsuki was hiding out in a sand cave in the area.

He was strictly told not to fight them unless to defend himself, which is what he ended up doing. But the rumor was only half true.

Neji and his team had encountered only one of them. His name was Uchiha Itachi.

What had surprised them was that he was heading in the direction of Konoha, not the way in which they had assumed.

Having only piles of sand as their cover up, the team was spotted immediately. It was then that all hell broke loose. After getting beaten up pretty badly, the only thing that the ANBU had uncovered was the motive to which he was traveling alone, in which the Akatsuki member was happy to reveal.

And the motive was shocking: to find Haruno Sakura.

As Neji finished his story, I stared at him, dumbfounded.

Why the hell would Uchiha Itachi want me? That question was left unanswered. As I continued to think about the current situation, Neji was trying to gain my attention.

I quickly snapped out of it and turned to listen to what he had to say.

"Sakura-san", Neji turned and looked out of my window before continuing. "I have reported this to Hokage-sama, and she said that the only valid conclusion would be for me to watch over you until we can gain more information. She deemed me right for the job because I fought him before and I know his strengths and weaknesses. I have to ask you if you could prepare an extra room for me so that I can take up my duties as soon as possible."

He turned to cough and then directed his gaze to me as if searching for an answer. Honestly, I had no problem with it. But there was one simple issue.

I didn't have an extra room.

I straightened up and slowly replied, "Neji, that might me a bit of a problem."

He looked at me quizzically and tilted his head to the side.

I sighed and continued. "Unless you wish to sleep on the floor, I have no other place to put you. The couch is an option, but trust me, it isn't all that comfortable."

He continued to stare at me, as if he was only half listening.

I waved my hand in front of his face. "Neji? woohoo Neji!"

He finally snapped out of it and mumbled something about seeing me tomorrow before quickly leaving the room.

I went back to my room and locked it with the set of keys I had, bid goodbye to Hinata, and started on my journey home.

As I walked, I started to ponder the events of the day.

Uchiha Itachi? If it wasn't for Sasuke I wouldn't even know his name.

But what could he possibly want from me?

I also wondered what had Neji in a hurry to leave the emergency room so fast. He asked if he could come by the hospital tomorrow, but what was the point when we could have talked about it right then and there?

I continued to wonder about these things as I took my shower, which was surprisingly warm, and changed into an oversized t-shirt before climbing into bed.

It's a miracle that I was actually able to go to sleep, with all these thoughts clouding my mind. But amazingly, I did, which was the fantastic ending to a most horrible day.

-XOXOXOX-

Heey! So, did you like it? Leave me a comment f you did! I highly appreciate it!

Whit :D


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